Garment hanger clamping mechanism



Jan. 8, 1952 e. M. LANE GARMENT HANGER CLAMPING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 6, 1950 INVENTOR.

GEORGE M. L A N E I Patented Jan. 8, 1952 PATENT OFFICE HANG-ER oLAMmNG: MEoH-ANtsM- "George'- llai e, Greensboro, N (3.

- applieatlcnwanum 6, 1950, SbrialiNo: 137,199

This invention relates toa garment hanger clamping mechanism and has for an objectto provide an improved-garment; hanger clamping mechanism of the; type: that will provide means for clamping either a;- skirt or. a pair. of trousers between a bar. and aclamping bar.

A further objector this invention, is to; pro.- vide an improved. means, for supporting a skirt or pair of trousers by clampingit aga-instabar which may be the bar of a coathanger.

Still a further. object of this inventions isto provide an improved clampingmeans for releasably clamping a clampingbar against a; bar of:

a. garment hanger tosecure a skirt or trousers hereby. 7; 1 I

Still a further object. of; this-invention is to provide an improved clamp operating mechanism and operating handle which will held; the: clamping bar in. open position tor the ready inser tion: of the skirt or trousers between the clamping, bar and. the garment hanger-bar and which will secure the clamping bar. in clamp position firmly holding the skirtor trousersbetween the clamping bar and bar.- A further. object of this inventioniis to provide a. garment hanger w-hose -operatingmechanism is an improvement over. that shownin- U. S. Patents Nos.- 1,955;,792,. 2,269,413, and 2,467,623..

, Still a: further object of this inventibnis to provide a lever-operated clamping; mechanism having. spring-cams which will move theclamping barand hold it in: open: position and.moveit to clamped position to yieldably. holdit in clamped position with. varying thicknesses of garments secured thereby. 4 With theforegoing and other objects in View, this invention comprises the combinations constructions and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawingwherein;

Fig..1.is a. perspective view. of thecombination garment hanger in'open position;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on" line 22" of'Fi'g; 1 of the clamping mechanism, and

Fig; 3.115 a view of Fig. 2.- in closed positions There is: shown at iii a combinationegarment hanger consisting of a coat hanger support ll having the usual central supporting hook l2 and provided with a bar [3 connecting the lower ends [4 of the coat hanger support portion H.

As shown the bar 13 is thinned out or cut away at I at the center thereof so as to provide space for the seam of the trousers or skirt V 2c ing'bar lit complementaril-ycutaway at l! and clamped thereagainst' by means; of the improved clamping mechanism [8 of this invention.

This clamping mechanism consists of a pair of spring wire portions 20 and 2 I and an operating lever 22- having; a handle; portion 23 and a camming pin 24. The clamping wire portion 23 is formed with a" pair of spaced apart legs 25 secured: inthe bar |-3 onopposite sides of the thinned? out portion l5 while the clamping. wire portion ll' similarly has; a pairofspace'd apart legs zfi securedt'o the clampingbar l6f at"opp'o site sides of its-thinned out-portion I'l The bight 32- of the spring Wire 25!!" is bent once around: the wire 21 as at-Zii and then extendeddownwardly and provides a bi'ght pivot at extending through an-opening. 3 in the lever- 1-2? The bight 32 has the adjacent portions 331 of legs 2i brought closely together after extending through"the bent'portions 2'8 ofljegs. 2fl'to a distance just greater than the'thickness of the lever 22 but'less than the length of the camming pin 24. 'Ifhese adjacent portions 33 are bent at."J l again-at35, again at 36 and extend again to a bend 3T wherethe leg: portions separate to extend through. the b'entportion's zii'a'nd then down toitheclamping bar l6 at 26: With these bends the camming. pin. z'w'may operate within a triangular shaped cam formed by' these bent portions.- of" the bight 32-". this triangular cam 38- has its connecting base 4i! and an" opening side 41. adjacent the bight which is bent inwardly slightly as at 42" while theo'pp'ositeclosing. side 43' is substantially straight.

Inoperati'on the camming pin 24 is" moved by.- the lever 22and its operating handle 23' to press against either theopeningsid'e il' rid ingi overthebe'nd 421 to abut againstthebiglit of" the. angle within the" fold 35' or, when the handle 23 is moved in the opposite direction, it abuts against" the straight" closing" side 43' and rides. down into the bi'gh't of the," angle formed by the bend 36'. Asthe lever 2211s pivoted by 45 its aperture 31 on'the pivot3'0of' thelbent bight' 310i the lgsliiLit. will beap'parent that movement of the liandle' 2 37 in a clockwise" direction" as viewed on-the drawings willcause the camming pin ifmo'v'ing down along'theclosingside 330f camming triangle 38 to thereby move the legs 2% of spring wire 2! and press the clamping bar I 6 yieldably against the bar l3 thus securing any garment such as a skirt or trousers that has been placed therebetween.

to be secured therebetween by means of a clamp- To release the garment from between the clamping bar and bar, the handle 23 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction from the closed position of Fig. 3 causing the clamping pin 24 to ride up the straight side 43 then cross over and ride down the opening side 4| past the bend 42 to push this side in a clockwise position and thus cause the legs 26 of spring wire 2| to move the clamping bar 16 away from the position adjacent the bar 13 and thus release the garment held therebetween.

It will be noted in Fig. 3 that the base 40 of the camming triangle 38 is not horizontal but instead extends upwardly from the bend 35 to the bend 36 while in the open position asshown in Fig. 2 this same base 40 now extends downwardly from the fold 35 to the fold 36 (considering the position of the spring wire 20 as being vertical at all times. Thus as the lever,22 is base of said camming triangle limiting the pivoting movement of said camming pin in either direction, the sides of said camming triangle being abutted by said camming pin as said lever is pivoted so that the camming pin moving up one triangular side and down the other triangular side pivots the clamping bar in one direction and moving in the opposite direction pivots the clamping bar. in an opposite direction thereby camming the clamping bar to either open or closed position and holding it in either open or closed position when in contact with the base of the camming triangle;

' 2. For use in a garment hanger haying a bar and a clamping bar, said bar and said clamping bar each being cut away on their contacting pivoted in either direction, the camming pin 24 riding down the inner side of the camming triangle 38 at the end of its operation always meets oneor the other ends 'of the base 40 to limit the movement thereof and thus hold it set in position either opened or closedas the case may be.

Thus considering the spring wire 20 with its bight pivot 30 as being stationary during operation, the lever'22 pivots at its opening 3| about the bight pivot 30 and cams the clamping bar IE to open position when moved counter-clockwise and to closed clamping position when moved clockwise to clamp a garment between the clamping bar IB and the bar l3.

While the preferred form and details of this invention have been thus set forth, described and illustrated, it will be understood that this invention is not limited to such exact details and that changes may be made within the scope of what is hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is: 7 I v 1. For use in a garment hanger having a bar and a clamping bar; clamping mechanism mounted on said bar and secured to said clamping bar, said clamping mechanism including a camming means to move said clamping'bar between open and closed position and to hold it in either open or closed position. said clamping mechanism comprising a generally U-shaped spring wire member having spaced apart legs secured in said bar, the side leg portions adjacent the bight of said U-shaped spring wire member being bent to provide a pair of spaced apart pivot openings and then bent downwardly providing a bight pivot, a lever having a pivot opening through which said bight pivot extends, said lever having an operating handle, a camming pin extending through said lever and spaced from said'pivot opening, a second generally U-shaped spring wire member having spaced apart legs secured in said clamping bar, the upper ends of said latter legs being bent and extending through said bight pivot openings of said first spring wire member to points spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of said camming lever and less than the length of said camming pin on said camming lever, said upper ends being then bent to form a camming triangle enclosing said camming pin, the

Vfaces; clamping mechanism mounted on said bar at opposite ends of said cut away portion,

said bight pivot extends, said lever having an operating handle, a camming pin extending through said lever and spaced from said pivot opening, a second generally U-shaped spring wire member having spaced apart legs secured in said clamping bar at opposite ends of said cut away portion, the upper ends of said latter legs being bent and extending through said bight pivot openings of said first spring wire member to points spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of said camming lever and less than the'length of said camming pin on said camming lever," said upper ends being then bent to form a camming triangle enclosing said camming pin, the base of said camming triangle limiting the pivoting movement of said camming pin in eitherdirection, the sides of said camming triangle being abutted by said camming pin as said lever is pivoted so that the camming pin moving up one triangular side and down the other triangular side pivots the clamping bar in one direction and moving in the opposite direction pivots the clamping bar in an opposite direction thereby camming the clamping bar to either open or closed position and holding it in either open or closed position when in contact with the base of the camming triangle.

- GEORGE M. LANE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Name Date Chesler Sept. 16, 1947 Number 2,427,385 

